Anyone else notice the similarities between last night’s loss to Phoenix and the Storm’s June 13 defeat in Indiana?

Both times, the Storm started off shooting the ball well. After a timeout, the Storm struggled against the zone and the home team took control. The Storm kept closer against the Mercury, and there wasn’t one player who was as hot for the Fever as Phoenix forward Penny Taylor, but it’s an interesting parallel.

Usually I am not a believer in the analysis that points toward one factor as the reason why a game is won or lost. Take, for example, the Storm’s loss at Sacramento earlier this year where the Monarchs controlled the offensive glass. Well, that probably would have been different had the Storm not been in the zone, but that same zone was also responsible for Sacramento’s poor shooting. Ultimately, it seemed like a wash.

That being said, I’m surprised that rebounding wasn’t considered to be a bigger factor in last night’s game. All the keys were there for a big night on the offensive glass for the Storm – the team shot poorly, Phoenix is the league’s worst defensive rebounding team and the Mercury played a zone (harder to rebound out of). Given all that, Phoenix did an excellent job of keeping the Storm off the offensive boards, especially in the first half.

When the e-mail showed up in my inbox saying, “Storm signs Lewis,” I was perplexed for a minute. That’s because I remember the new Storm guard as first Doneeka Hodges, then Doneeka Hodges-Lewis. Apparently she’s dropped her family name (shared by her twin sister, Comets guard Roneeka) after being waived by the Sparks during training camp.

It seems some other people are perplexed as well, because they view Hodges-Lewis as a shooting guard, instead of a point guard like Shona Thorburn (who was not retained after her seven-day contract).

I suppose I understand why that is – Lewis played shooting guard at LSU and it may, in some sense, be her “natural” position. However, she basically exclusively played point guard her last two seasons in L.A. and generally played it awfully well.

Lest this be seen as revisionist history, I dug up the scouting report I wrote about Lewis prior to last year’s playoff series between the Storm and the Sparks:

PG DONEEKA LEWIS
Lewis might be the only Sparks player who misses departed Coach Henry Bibby. Bibby’s style emphasized spotting up on the perimeter for L.A.’s point guards, and that played perfectly to Lewis’ shooting ability, to the point where she was more effective than (Nikki) Teasley at times in 2005. This year, Lewis has had a more difficult time of it, seeing her three-point percentage plummet from 44.4% to 29.5%. Still, she’s a solid backup at the point despite converting from shooting guard – she played alongside (Temeka) Johnson for her final three years while at LSU – and doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. The Sparks don’t really see much drop-off when Lewis is at the point, and that’s a high compliment.

Lewis averaged 5.8 assists per 40 minutes last season. By comaprison, Sue Bird averaged 6.1. Ticha Penicheiro averaged 5.5 and Dawn Staley 5.2.

In what will be remembered as the most competitive WNBA All-Star Game to date – and maybe the most competitive I can remember in any sport – the East held off a furious challenge by the West to win 103-99. It would have been interesting to see what might have happened if the West had called timeout on its fractured final possession, which ended with Tina Thompson forcing an off-balance shot.

There was no shortage of contenders for MVP honors, which went to Cheryl Ford. Tamika Catchings was another strong contender with 15 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, while Katie Douglas led the victorious East with 18 points on efficient 6-of-8 shooting.

Lauren Jackson was part of a West attack that pitched in 17 three-pointers in an incomprehensible 46 attempts. Jackson was 4-for-7 from downtown and scored 14 points, grabbing five rebounds.

Earlier on, Betty Lennox competed in the Dribble, Dish and Swish Challenge.

“Lennox … struggled with the chest pass and the outlet pass, needing three and four tries, respectively, to complete each pass,” reported WNBA.com’s Brian Martin. She finished the course in 40 seconds flat.”

That ended up putting Lennox in fourth place, less than a second behind Washington’s Nikki Teasley (39.4 seconds).

By the way, I wanted to throw in a comment on Anna DeForge. Her selection as a starter in the East was widely-questioned, but I felt good for DeForge even before she hit the big shot in the final minute. Why? In 2004, DeForge had an All-Star-caliber season, but there was no All-Star Game that year because of the Olympics. (DeForge was picked for the team of WNBA stars that played the U.S. Olympic Team in The Game at Radio City, a de facto All-Star Game of sorts.)

There were only two players on that team who had, before this season, not made an All-Star team: DeForge and Allison Feaster. It doesn’t look like Feaster will get another shot. She’s 31 and out of the league this season. Honestly, however, Feaster didn’t belong in the All-Star Game that year. DeForge did. She deserves to be considered an All-Star player and now the annals of history will so record her.

This is typical of how the game went today: the Storm played a tough defensive series with just under three minutes remaining, but Evanthia Maltsi hit a off-balance runner as the shot clock expired to give the Sun a 74-59 lead.

One more example, again with the shot clock winding down: Sun forward Asjha Jones hit a running right-handed hook shot over Lauren Jackson with 2:10 to play.

Following the timeout, the Storm cut the lead to seven on a basket by Janell Burse that got the crowd back into the game. Burse followed that with a big defensive play at the other end, blocking a shot in the paint that triggered a fastbreak.

However, the Sun recovered and forced a turnover. Instead of a five-point game, the Sun made it an 11-point spread with layups by Lindsay Whalen and Katie Douglas. Score: Sun 68, Storm 57. Timeout Storm.

Anne Donovan has called a timeout with 6:03 remaining in the game and the Storm down 64-55. Every time the Storm threatens to make it a nail-biter, the Sun answers. Leading the charge for the visitors is Katie Douglas, who been a defensive presence and has hit a series of big shots today.

The Storm pulled within three points, but Nykesha Sales made sure the Sun stayed in control. The versatile guard scored nine of her 15 points in the quarter.

The Storm thought it had cut the Sun’s lead to seven heading into the final quarter on a 3-point shot by Iziane Castro Marques, but the officials ruled the ball was released after the buzzer.

Storm starters Lauren Jackson and Betty Lennox are taking a breather at the 4:16 mark with the Storm down 49-44.

The two have combined for 28 points (Jackson 16, Lennox 12) and 12 rebounds (Jackson four, Lennox eight).

A jumper by Wendy Palmer pulled the Storm to within three, but Nykesha Sales answered to push the lead back to five.

The pace of the game has picked up considerably. Katie Douglas opened the second half with a jumper and answered two free throws by Iziane Castro Marques with an extra-long 3-pointer to give the Sun its biggest lead of the game (13 points) at 47-34.

Lauren Jackson has seen enough. Following a 15-foot jumper from teammate Janell Burse, the Storm All-Star went to work inside, scoring on a nice turnaround move under the basket and following that with a tough shot over two defenders to pull the Storm with seven at 49-42.

The Storm isn’t going to let this game get away. Betty Lennox just scored on a hard drive to the basket at the 5:26 mark to make it 49-44, but missed the chance to make it a 3-point play by missing the free throw. It was her first miss in 34 attempts.

Positive signs are showing for the Storm. Coming out of the timeout, Izi drained a 3-pointer and displayed the look of, “Finally!”

But Margo Dydek in answering every big shot with one of her own. The 7-foot-2 center is bringing the Storm defense to her by knocking down 15-foot jumpers. In turn, the lane is open for driving guard Lindsay Whalen.

The Storm pulled within seven points at 37-30, but a drive by Whalen and 3-pointer from Kristen Rasmussen pushed the Sun’s lead back to double digits. Betty Lennox closed the half with a baseline jumper with 3.5 seconds remaining before halftime.